2002 Kansas gubernatorial election
The 2002 Kansas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Governor Bill Graves, a Republican, was barred from seeking a third term by the Kansas Constitution. Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius, the Democratic nominee, ran against Kansas State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger, the Republican nominee, with Sebelius defeating Shallenburger to become the second female Governor of Kansas after Joan Finney who served as governor from 1991 to 1995.
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 County results Sebelius: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Shallenburger: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Tie: 40–50% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Kansas |
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Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kathleen Sebelius | 87,499 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 87,499 | 100.00 | ||
Republican primary
Primary results by county:
Shallenburger
- Shallenburger—71-80%
- Shallenburger—51-60%
- Shallenburger—41-50%
- Shallenburger—31-40%
Kerr
- Kerr—41-50%
- Kerr—31-40%
Knight
- Knight—51-60%
- Knight—41-50%
- Knight—31-40%
Tie between Shallenburger and Kerr-38%
Candidates
- Tim Shallenburger, Kansas State Treasurer (1999–present) and former state representative (1987-1998)
- Running mate: Dave Lindstrom, former Kansas City Chiefs defensive end and businessman
- Dave Kerr, Kansas State Senator
- Running mate: Mary Birch, former president of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce (1984-2002)
- Bob Knight, Mayor of Wichita, Kansas
- Running mate: Kent Glasscock, Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives (2001-2003) and state representative (1991-2003), was Carla Stovall's running mate until she dropped out.
- Dan Bloom, real estate developer and former Superintendent of the Eudora school district[2]
- Running mate: Eric Bloom, architectural engineering student[3]
Withdrawn
- Carla Stovall, Kansas Attorney General (1995-2003).
- Running mate: Kent Glasscock, Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives (2001-2003) and state representative (1991-2003)
Initially, Stovall was one of the presumed "front-runner" candidates, and her anticipated run against the probable Democratic nominee, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius, drew national attention as becoming possibly a rare "woman-vs.-woman" gubernatorial race.[4][5] Though the front-runner among moderate candidates[6][7] — and confident that she would win if she stayed in the race[7] — Stovall dropped out in April, 2002, citing a lack of enthusiasm for campaigning, and for the job of governor,[7][8] and announced plans to marry Kansas media mogul Larry Steckline, whom she married in August.[9][10]
Stovall's abrupt withdrawal threw the moderate wing of the Kansas Republican Party into chaos, as they scrambled to replace her.[6][7] Kent Glasscock, her running mate, was the heir-apparent, and claimed entitlement to Stovall's campaign funds,[7] but conservative opponent Tim Shallenberger, the incumbent State Treasurer, argued that the funds, per his interpretation of state law, had to be returned to the state Republican party, or to the donors, a charity, or the state government's general revenue fund.[7] Additional Republican candidates began to emerge, also, further complicating the race.[7] Glasscock ultimately became a running mate for gubernatorial candidate Bob Knight.[11]
Stovall's withdrawal was credited with giving advantage to the Democratic nominee (and ultimate victor), Katheleen Sebelius.[6][8][12]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Shallenburger | 122,141 | 41.47 | |
| Republican | Dave Kerr | 86,995 | 29.54 | |
| Republican | Bob Knight | 77,642 | 26.36 | |
| Republican | Dan Bloom | 7,726 | 2.62 | |
| Total votes | 294,504 | 100.00 | ||
General election
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[13] | Lean D (flip) | October 31, 2002 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[14] | Lean D (flip) | November 4, 2002 |
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[lower-alpha 1] |
Margin of error |
Kathleen Sebelius (D) |
Tim Shallenburger (R) |
Dennis Hawver (L) |
Theodore Pettibone (Reform) |
Other / undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | October 31 – November 2, 2002 | 704 (LV) | ± 3.8% | 51% | 44% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kathleen Sebelius | 441,858 | 52.87% | +30.22% | |
| Republican | Tim Shallenburger | 376,830 | 45.09% | -28.28% | |
| Reform | Theodore Pettibone | 8,907 | 1.07% | +0.01% | |
| Libertarian | Dennis Hawver | 8,097 | 0.97% | ||
| Majority | 65,028 | 7.78% | -42.93% | ||
| Turnout | 835,692 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | ||||
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Jefferson (largest municipality: Valley Falls)
- Crawford (largest city: Pittsburg)
- Riley (largest municipality: Manhattan)
- Shawnee (largest municipality: Topeka)
- Lyon (largest municipality: Emporia)
- Sherman (largest municipality: Goodland)
- Decatur (largest municipality: Oberlin)
- Sheridan (largest municipality: Hoxie)
- Graham (largest municipality: Hill City)
- Lane (largest municipality: Dighton)
- Trego (largest municipality: WaKeeney)
- Ford (largest municipality: Dodge City)
- Smith (largest municipality: Smith Center)
- Phillips (largest municipality: Phillipsburg)
- Rooks (largest municipality: Plainville)
- Osborne (largest municipality: Osborne)
- Russell (largest municipality: Russell)
- Ellis (largest municipality: Hays)
- Rush (largest municipality: La Crosse)
- Barton (largest municipality: Great Bend)
- Pawnee (largest municipality: Larned)
- Stafford (largest municipality: St. John)
- Edwards (largest municipality: Kinsley)
- Kiowa (largest municipality: Greensburg)
- Mitchell (largest municipality: Beloit)
- Lincoln (largest municipality: Lincoln)
- Ellsworth (largest municipality: Ellsworth)
- Rice (largest municipality: Lyons)
- Reno (largest municipality: Hutchinson)
- Kingman (largest municipality: Kingman)
- Harvey (largest municipality: Newton)
- Harper (largest municipality: Anthony)
- Sumner (largest municipality: Wellington)
- McPherson (largest municipality: McPherson)
- Saline (largest municipality: Salina)
- Ottawa (largest municipality: Minneapolis)
- Cloud (largest municipality: Concordia)
- Clay (largest municipality: Clay Center)
- Geary (Largest city: Junction City)
- Dickinson (Largest city: Abilene)
- Morris (Largest city: Council Grove)
- Marshall (Largest city: Marysville)
- Nemaha (Largest city: Sabetha)
- Brown (Largest city: Hiawatha)
- Doniphan (Largest city: Wathena)
- Atchison (Largest city: Atchison)
- Leavenworth (Largest city: Leavenworth)
- Jackson (Largest city: Holton)
- Osage (Largest city: Osage City)
- Franklin (Largest city: Ottawa)
- Miami (Largest city: Spring Hill)
- Anderson (Largest city: Garnett)
- Linn (Largest city: Pleasanton)
- Woodson (Largest city: Yates Center)
- Wilson (Largest city: Neodesha)
- Allen (Largest city: Iola)
- Bourbon (Largest city: Fort Scott)
- Neosho (Largest city: Chanute)
- Labette (Largest city: Parsons)
- Cherokee (Largest city: Baxter Springs)
- Johnson (largest municipality: Overland Park)
- Coffey (largest municipality: Burlington)
- Chase (largest city: Cottonwood Falls)
- Greenwood (largest municipality: Eureka)
- Norton (largest municipality: Norton)
- Pratt (largest municipality: Pratt)
- Pottawatomie (largest municipality: Manhattan)
- Douglas (Largest city: Lawrence)
- Wyandotte (Largest city: Kansas City)
Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
References
- "2002 Primary Election Official Vote Totals" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State.
- Rothschild, Scott (July 24, 2022). "The Governor's Race: Bloom follows outsider's path in race". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- Callaway, Kristin (July 28, 2002). "Eric Bloom: Bloom fills time with campaigning, sports". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- Clymer, Adam: "In 2002, Woman's Place May Be the Statehouse," date, The New York Times, retrieved July 28, 2020
- Broder, David: "Closing The Governor Gap," February 20, 2002, The Washington Post, retrieved July 28, 2020
- Associated Press: "Decision: Lt. Governor says he won't wait for formal announcement from Stovall before he makes decision," April 11, 2002, Garden City Telegram, page 1, from NewspaperArchive.com (OCR text), retrieved July 28, 2020
- "Stovall Drops Out," April 16, 2002, Lawrence Journal-World, retrieved July 28, 2020
- "Sebelius: A Legacy," April 28, 2009, Topeka Capital-Journal, retrieved July 28, 2020
- "Kansas official plans to marry,", May 9, 2002, Daily Oklahoman, retrieved July 29, 2020
- "Stovall-Steckline wedding," last modified Nov. 13, 2002, Marion County Record, retrieved July 29, 2020
- Beatty, Bob and Virgil W. Dean, editors: "Doing What Needed to Get Done, When It Needed to Get Done”: A Conversation with Former Governor Bill Graves," undated Kansas History pp.172-197, retrieved July 29, 2020 from Washburn University reference archives.
- Beatty, Bob and Linsey Moddelmog, editors: "Find a Way to Find Common Ground": A Conversation with Former Governor Kathleen Sebelius," Winter 2017-2018, Kansas History, retrieved July 29, 2020; pp.277-278: former Gov. Sebelius: "I entered the race [when] Carla [Stovall] [was] in the primary, and... within four months [she was] dropping out. So [the race] changed dramatically."
- "Governor Updated October 31, 2002 | The Cook Political Report". The Cook Political Report. October 31, 2002. Archived from the original on December 8, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- "Governors Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 12, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- "2002 General Election Official Vote Totals" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State.
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